2017-07-21 training log

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That didn’t go as planned, but it did go as I thought it might.

I missed the last rep on the top set. There’s zero reason to be missing, so why did it happen?

I was exhausted going into this session. I didn’t want to get out of bed, I didn’t want to go to the gym. That’s a sign of fatigue. The bodyweight work up front isn’t much, but it was still harder to do than usual — another sign. I also know that the 2 deadlift sessions prior were taxing and I felt like they may be overcalculated for the work involved: the lack of carbs, being the last session of the week, etc.. So no it wasn’t the plan, but I can’t say I’m surprised I missed.

So after that top set? I called it. There’s no point in adding to the fatigue. I did go 30 minutes on the elliptical instead of 20, but 10 more minutes of that is hardly adding to fatigue.

What now?

Well, I’m not 100% sure. Obviously I won’t increase the weights on the deadlifts, but what will I do? Going to think about it. Part of me thinks to leave deadlifts at the same weights. Part of me thinks that I’m just going to be worse off as diet will remain as it is, so maybe I should reduce the weight some (tho how much?). Part of me thinks that maybe across the board I should keep everything the same (all weights, all exercises) because of that same reason. I even have thoughts of total change-up, but I do think I should strive to stick with this for the whole 6 weeks at least.

Much thinking. I’ll see where it goes.

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: forgot to weigh myself
Rest Period (seconds): 80

  • Deadlift – 165 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 205 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 250 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 310 x 5
  • Dips – BW x 12
  • Deadlift – 350 x 5
  • Chin-up – BW x 3
  • Deadlift – 395 x 4

2017-07-20 training log

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I miss carbs. Not just because they’re delicious, but because you just lose so much in the gym. Weights feel heavier, can’t get as many reps, etc.. It’s my own fault tho. So here I am.

Pressing did feel heavy, but admit it’s hard to tell if it’s just the lack of carbs, the increased workload, or most likely both.

Nothing much else to report then. It’s just getting through the week.

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 243 (ugh… I hope it’s just some water retention)
Rest Period (seconds): 80

  • Incline Bench Press – bar x whatever
  • Incline Bench Press – 90 x 5
  • Face Pull – 60 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 110 x 5
  • Face Pull – 60 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 135 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15e
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15e
  • Incline Bench Press – 190 x 5
  • Pull-up – BW x 4
  • Incline Bench Press – 210 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 4
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 3
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20e
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20e
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25

AAR: Dark Angel Medical, Direct Action Response Training, July 2017

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A car wreck doesn’t care about your gender. Severe bleeding doesn’t care about your politics. Falling from a great height disregards ideology. Injury and death can happen to any of us – do you have the medical skills to address it?

One of my goals for 2017 was to get more “other” training, and continuing my education in medical skills was one of those areas. I’ve taken a number of classes from Lone Star Medics and it’s been one of the best things I’ve done. I like to seek out other instructors because there’s great benefit in doing so. Yes, much of the material may be the same, but that’s great! Redundancy fosters learning. You might hear an old thing presented in a new way, or with additional insight. And there can simply be new things to learn. When I saw Dark Angel Medical was coming to Austin to teach their Direct Action Response Training course, I didn’t hesitate to sign up. I have heard many good things about Dark Angel, so I wanted to see what they were about and further my medical knowledge.

Location & Details

The course was held on July 15-16, 2017 at The Range at Austin, a new and rather swanky gun range and training facility. It’s only been open for a short while, and this was my first time visiting the facility. It’s quite nice. Very large, spacious. HUGE showroom, selling a number of high-end firearms (no Hi-Points here), some more obscure/exotic ones as well. Very tactically oriented (vs. field/hunting oriented). Large range area, many lanes. Well lit. Seemed well-ventilated (tho I didn’t go into the range area, I didn’t see smoke or other issues). Very modern facility. Expensive, but nice.

The training there is headed by Jeff Gonzales of Trident Concepts.  Jeff’s a good guy, and we know each other from some past dealings, but haven’t seen each other in a few years. I did manage to catch him the morning of day 2, and it was good to catch up. I’ve long wanted to take some classes from Jeff, but he always taught on the road and rarely in the Austin-area. But now that he’s here, I am going to try to find time to take some stuff from him one of these days.

The class was taught solo by the head of Dark Angel, Kerry “Pocket Doc” Davis. There were 22 students (21 men, 1 woman), many from Austin but others drove in from Dallas, Waco-area, and a couple people came from Florida.

The class is 100% indoors, in classroom. No shooting, no real physicality (you’ll be sitting most of the time). The facility classroom was clean, well-lit, nice big-screen TV for PowerPoint and videos. Each room should have had a whiteboard, but alas ours did not. I did think the room was a little cramped for 22 full-grown adults (the table & chair arrangement, as well as room dimensions), but it wasn’t too bad and we all managed throughout the weekend just fine.

Classes ran 8:30AM to 5:30PM, with about an hour break mid-day for lunch. Given The Range’s location in Austin (very close to Southpark Meadows), there’s a good deal of dining options for lunch within a very short drive. Or just bring your lunch (like I did) and spend time perusing the showroom floor looking at all the $3000 AR’s and 1911’s that you can’t afford. 🙂  (that said, I did get to look a little more at the SIG 320; such a tempting platform).

Class Itself

Again, this course is 100% classroom. You might consider it “death by PowerPoint”, but that’s not really bad. Kerry doesn’t just read from the slides – they are supporting material. But note, that is what the majority of what D.A.R.T. is: information. From their website:

Direct Action Response Training fills a niche between military self-aid/buddy care training and civilian EMS training and is geared towards those with little to no medical training or background. It provides the student with critical, need-to-know information, which can be utilized in a myriad of situations and stresses the ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ principle as well as our own principle of “Simplicity Under Stress”.

[…]

The course covers the following:

Physiological and Psychological reactions to environmental stress
The importance of having the proper Combat Mindset
Basic Anatomy and Physiology of life-sustaining systems
H, A, B, C’s—Hemorrhage, Airway, Breathing and Circulation
Breakdown and usage of Individual Med Kit components
Proper stowage and employment of the IMK
Hands-on application of the IMK
Basic and Advanced Airway management -treating and monitoring tension pneumothorax, sucking chest wound and flail chest
Airway adjunct device placement-Nasopharyngeal Airway
Basic First Aid and Advanced wound care
Application of Bandages and Hemostatic Agents
Application of tourniquets
Recognition and Treatment of various injuries (Gunshot, Laceration, Burn, Airway, Head, Orthopedic, Environmental)
Recognition and treatment of hypovolemic (hemorrhagic) shock
Moving and positioning victims with various injuries
Response to active shooter situation
Proper use of cover and cover vs. concealment
Casualty recovery in an Active Shooter situation
Mass casualty triage procedure
Emergency Medical Dialect/Lingo (911 protocol, cooperation with LE, Fire and EMS and First Responders)

That’s a LOT of material, and sure enough, you are drinking from the firehose. I think that’s actually a benefit of the PowerPoint slides: you are then provided with a printout/booklet of all the slides, which provides a great reference for later to help you remember and refresh yourself on what you learned in class.

All of the above information? Yup, it’s covered. And while for sure the class was full of “gun people” and held at a gun range, in no way is the class a “gun class”. It was a medical class. Kerry worked well at shaping the information towards life in general, because people tend to encounter life more often than being the victim of violent crime. Car wrecks, falling off ladders, or as much as I hate to say it but these days terrorist attacks. This is a medical class.

All of Day 1 and the first part of Day 2 are just going through the information. There’s a lot, but it’s presented well. Kerry makes the learning fun and works to help retention. For example, providing memory aids (H.A.B.C.D.E.); repeating and reviewing previously covered material as the class goes along (building); and working to provide information to more deeply understand what’s going on, but not getting so deep as to be overwhelming (no going down rabbit holes).

The second part of Day 2 then has some hands-on. Kerry demonstrates some things. The class gets up and rotates between various stations to get some hands-on with various types of equipment. Then a couple short scenarios are done to try putting everything to use.

One thing that ran through the whole class was working on the rapid application of tourniquets. Each student was given a TQ, taught how to use it as the first agenda item. Then throughout class and random times, Kerry would yell out “right arm” or “left leg” and we would have to apply the TQ to that body part, correctly, and as quickly as possible.

My Take-Home

Bottom line: I’m overall happy with the course. I am happy to have spent my weekend and my money taking this course. Yes, a lot of the material was things I already knew, but I enjoy that because again, redundancy fosters learning. To hear some of the same things presented in a different way? It helped to provide different perspective, but also continue to drive it home without being the same old thing again and again.

I do wish there was more hands-on, as the act of doing is a great reinforcer. Tell us about some skill, show us, have us do it, observe and provide feedback, etc.. Given some of the constraints of the class (so much material to cover and only so much time, student-teacher ratio, the sheer amount of gear that would be required, etc.), I can understand why there wasn’t as much hands-on. And again, some things were done to try to address this, such as repetition, review, quizes – these can help; think of it like visualization and how the brain can’t really tell between you visualizing the thing and actually doing the thing. So it’s still some repetitions, still some reinforcement. But it only goes so far; e.g. carries were presented in the slides, but just discussed – it would have been welcome to actually do the carries.

That said, the constant work with TQ’s I thought was a fair way of working through class on that important skill. If there was time, it’d have been good to do individual checks and feedback on each student’s application. Why? Because I did see people not applying them well. They were more concerned with “making time”, or because of stuff in their pockets might apply the TQ just above the knee instead of “high and tight”. Reps are good, but when people are learning a skill they should get some direct feedback on their application of that skill.

I found this class quite complementary to other training I’ve taken. Much of the same mindset and approach, tho of course each instructor is different. I found some new things, and my mind changed on a few topics as well (I’ll write about that later). And since I know people will ask, what I will say is take all the training you can from all the good trainers you can find. No one has the monopoly on Truth. The more information you can gather, the more exposure you can have, the better. Plus with medical training, it changes rapidly. Given time, budget, and life constraints, consider taking at least 1 course every 1-2 years to keep up with the latest advances and keep your skills and knowledge fresh, and rotate with whom you take the course to maximize your exposure.

I think that was a big help for me. This is not my first such class, and because of the repeated exposure I feel I know the information better, stronger. I feel a greater confidence because of the redundancy.

Kerry came across as knowledgable, passionate, and with a great desire to help people. It was my first time meeting him, and I got to talk with him one-on-one during lunch on Day 1. He seems a solid man, doing good work.

Medical training is important. I know many of my readers are people who carry a gun because they understand the importance of preservation of life. Well, the simple reality is you’re more likely to need medical skills than a gun. I look at my own life and the times I’ve called upon my medical skills vs. the times I’ve called upon a gun. No question that I’ve used my medical skills and knowledge more.

It may not be as fun as throwing thousands of rounds downrange during a carbine course, but there’s also not much that’s going to be as truly useful in your daily life as medical training.

Get some.

2017-07-18 training log

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Wrecked.

I knew this would be the toughest day so far, and sure enough it was. But it was far more a mental game than a physical one.

Yes, it was a lot of work. Yes it was exhausting. The shortening rest periods, the heavier weights, and even that I am able to crank out a few more reps on the bodyweight work — it all takes it out of you. Then you have to squat again before you’re ready and recovered. It’s a lot of work and it is physically demanding.

But it really was more mental. You want to quit, you can’t quit. You don’t want to do another set, you have to do another set. Things that help? Instead of 1 set of 5 reps, it’s 5 sets of 1 rep performed consecutively. I use that mental trick a lot and it helps because it ensures you put all things into that rep, even if you have to take a moment or two before performing the rep to situate yourself. Whereas when you do rep after rep, form and focus can degrade.

So hey, discomfort is how you get better. (remind me I said that every evening when I’m hungry). 🙂

I will say that it’s different to do this program for a few reasons. First, it feels odd to get so much work and feel it, yet I don’t have much of a pump. Second, doing bodyweight work every session, hitting full-body every session, that’s different for me. I am curious how that will pan out over the long haul. And yes, this change up is making me give serious reconsideration to my goals, in light of my grander directing mission/vision for why I go to the gym and do all of this stuff in the first place. I’m not sure, but I will say I’ve cracked out Paul Carter’s “Basebuilding” eBook again and want to reread it all the way through (not just a skim, full read).

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 241
Rest Period (seconds): 80

  • Squat – bar x whatever
  • Squat – 125 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Squat – 155 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Squat – 185 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Dips – BW x 17
  • Squat – 265 x 5
  • Chin-up – BW x 6
  • Squat – 295 x 5
  • Dips – BW x 12
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Chin-up BW x 5
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Push-ups – BW x 15
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Inverted Row – BW x 13
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Push Ups – BW x 13
  • Squat – 235 x 5
  • Inverted Row – BW x 10

2017-07-17 training log

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Starting week 3. Oof.

All in all, not too bad a day, really. But then, the past 2 weeks have shown that the pressing days are work but aren’t killer. But for sure, today was harder than the past 2 press days. Hooray for carb depletion and being out of gas. 🙂

Overall tho, the session went ok. I am realizing that the thing I hate most? Pull-ups. If there’s anything I’d like to skip, it’s those. I’m not sure why. It could simply be because I suck at them, and they’re hard to do (and they’re a little stressful on my shoulders and elbows).

In terms of bodyweight loss, I was at 241 all weekend, 242 this morning. Whatever the exact number, I think at this point that yes there has been a bit of tissue loss, tho not much. 3-4 pounds in 2 weeks? That’s good. But really, the proof will be more when I break into the 230’s — that will be when I know I’m actually losing and not just manipulating. Heck, once I see 240 showing up reliably on the scale, I’ll know I’m getting somewhere.

This change in program has also made me start to think about greater changes. I still want to hit my 3/4/5 goal, but 5/3/1 and other “pure strength building” tends to beat me up badly when I do it for an extended period. I am having thoughts about taking a longer road to my goal; instead of straight strength work, rotating. For example, 12 weeks of strength work with heavier weights and lower reps, less assistance, more focus on main movements. Then take 6-12 weeks on a hypertrophy approach, with lighter weights height reps, more assistance, intensity techniques. Things to give my body a bit of a break. I don’t know, just starting to think about this.

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 242
Rest Period (seconds): 80

  • Press – bar x whatever
  • Press – 70 x 5
  • Face Pull – 60 x 25
  • Press – 80 x 5
  • Face Pull – 60 x 25
  • Press – 105 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15e
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15e
  • Press – 150 x 5
  • Pull-up – BW x 5
  • Press – 165 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 4
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 4
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20e
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20e
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25
  • Press – 130 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25

Sunday Metal – Thin Lizzy

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So I’ve been digging the new album from The Obsessed. On it, they cover Thin Lizzy’s “It’s Only Money”, which got me spinning some Thin Lizzy again.

Here’s a live performance by Thin Lizzy of “It’s Only Money”

 

Lt. Brian Murphy – the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting

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Lt. Brian Murphy was the first police officer to respond to the events at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on August 5, 2012. Lt. Murphy was shot 15 times – twice in the head – but fought on.

I’ve been told that if I ever had a chance to hear him speak I should listen. Well, ProArms Podcast Episode 103 features Lt. Murphy telling his story.

It’s a riveting listen.

A few things I took from it:

  1. There are evil people in this world. Monsters. I already know this, but still people go through this world in denial, and refuse to take steps to be prepared for it. All these people were doing was going to church, and for some reason that we’ll never know, this malevolent monster killed them.
  2. As I’m fond of saying, “when you’re dead, you’re dead; until then, keep fighting”. Lt. Murphy was shot 15 times – just hearing about the first shot that hit him in the head? How he didn’t die from that, how he didn’t have a psychological stop from that? He wasn’t going to quit. He wasn’t dead, so he kept fighting. Mindset. Determination. Have it.
  3. Fighting back matters. In fact, it’s the best thing you can do. Could you die? Perhaps. But then at least you’ve got a chance to live, or help others live. Around 35:00 in the podcast, Lt. Murphy tells of Satwant Singh Kaleka (President of the Gurdwara) who pleaded with the murderer, was shot, but as he was not yet dead drew his kirpan (a small ceremonial knife, not sharp), and started stabbing the monster in the leg. Then he dropped the kirpan and wrapped his hands around the monster’s leg, trying to prevent him from moving. Kaleka fought until he died. And from what Lt. Murphy later tells, Kaleka’s fighting bought time; it delayed this monster from inflicting more evil. It gave the responders more time, and it certainly saved lives (listen to the podcast, you’ll see what I mean).
  4. Time matters. Help may come, but that’s just it – it might come, and if it does come, it’s going to take time for it to get there. Meanwhile, evil continues to rampage. What could have been done to make better use of time? And yes I’ll go there: what if the Sikh were armed? Would the monster have gotten so far? When the monster was visiting the temple performing reconnaissance, if it was evident they were armed would any of this have happened?

About a year ago, Greg Ellifritz attended a different presentation from Lt. Murphy. The ProArms Podcast recording was from an event by the body armor company, so it tells of the story plus the benefits of the body armor (it’s a wee bit of a long commercial). It seems the presentation Ellifritz attended had a different approach, like it was a presentation for police officers. Read Greg’s assessment, including some critical but justified commentary from Greg.

Plain and simple. The world is overwhelming full of good people. But evil does lurk amongst us, and it doesn’t care about you, it doesn’t prescribe to your standards, morals, and ethics. However you choose to face that evil, be accepting of what your choices will bring.

2017-07-14 training log

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Oof. I’m out of gas.

A day like today shouldn’t kick my ass, but it did. I’m out of gas. Hooray for carb restrictions! 🙂

I’m getting used to the workload, both mentally and physically. But I’m just flat out of gas. It was a struggle to get through the deadlifts. Heck, the top set? That should be nothing, but it was painful.

I am not sure what next week will bring. Heaviest weights of the cycle, and continual carb deprevation. oof…. this is going to suck. 🙂

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 242
Rest Period (seconds): 85

  • Deadlift – 165 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 205 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 250 x 5
  • Crunches – BW x 20
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Dips – BW x 16
  • Deadlift – 310 x 5
  • Chin-up – BW x 5
  • Deadlift – 350 x 5
  • Dips – BW x 13
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Chin-up BW x 4
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Push-ups – BW x 15
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Inverted Row – BW x 13
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Push Ups – BW x 13
  • Deadlift – 270 x 5
  • Inverted Row – BW x 10

2017-07-13 training log

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Nothing much to say from today.

Session was what it was. It’s work, but I’m adapting.

Bodyweight is annoying me. But as much as I want to throw in the towel, I’m just going to keep at it. Sigh.

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 245
Rest Period (seconds): 85

  • Incline Bench Press – bar x whatever
  • Incline Bench Press – 90 x 5
  • Face Pull – 55 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 110 x 5
  • Face Pull – 60 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 135 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • Split Squat – BW x 15
  • Incline Bench Press – 165 x 5
  • Pull-up – BW x 5
  • Incline Bench Press – 190 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 4
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • Pull-up BW x 4
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • DB Row – 60 x 20
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25
  • Incline Bench Press – 145 x 5
  • KB Swing – 40 x 25

Move fast, shoot slow

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Getting something done in less time doesn’t just mean “go faster” – many times it’s about efficiency and economy. Or simply, not wasting time.

A common thing I see in classes is where the students are to do something like: from 3 yards, draw and fire 3 shots in 3 seconds. The buzzer sounds. There’s a pause. Then there’s a mosey to the holster. The gun comes out. Then the student realizes “oh no! I’m almost out of time” and then it’s pedal to the floor and 3 blazing shots, some or all of them unacceptable hits.

What we have here is moving slow and shooting fast, and not being economical with time. That’s not desirable. Whether you’re shooting for competition or self-defense, you want and need to get fast, acceptable hits. What can we do to improve?

First, don’t waste time.

We often say to our students to start moving when you hear the “B” in “Beep” of the timer. The moment it’s go-time, GO! Any time not moving, that’s precious time spent and wasted.

Then when you go… GO! Move move move as fast as you can. Get your hand on that gun and get the gun out of the holster and onto the target quickly. There’s nothing gained by moving slowly here, although you should not move any faster than you can move well (e.g. going too fast, flubbing the draw, etc. is not a recipe for success). And note, this holds always. We know we can shoot faster at 3 yards and we know we need to shoot slower at 25 yards; but the draw? That should be just as fast at either because the drawing has little to do with the shooting – and the less time you spend moving, the more time you have left over for shooting!

As a side note, when you do these “fast” movements, work to be efficient, only doing what you need to do. There’s no need to squat when you draw. There’s no need to bring the head down – just move the arms and bring the gun up to the eye-target line. Working to eliminate any and all unecessary movement and motion may not physically speed things up, but it will cut down on time, energy, and effort spent in ways that will not make you shoot better. These microseconds add up.

Then when it’s time to shoot? Instead of pushing the pedal to the floorboard and going physically faster, likely you need to actually let up a little bit and slow down (tho “slow down” is relative; I may not slow down much, if at all, for a 3 yard shot at an 8″ circle, but I will slow down more for a 3 yard shot on a 2″ dot or a 25 yard shot on an 8″ circle). You need to acquire a proper sight picture. You need to press the trigger without yanking it (and then moving sights off target). Again, don’t shoot any faster than you can actually operate at, to ensure acceptable hits. How fast YOU go vs. how fast I go vs. how fast Jerry Miculek goes, they will vary but we all have the same goal of going as fast as we can while still getting acceptable hits. When you’ve moved faster and more efficiently from the start, you have more time left over to shoot and shoot well.

“Going faster” doesn’t necessarily mean “going faster”. It’s about using your time wisely, efficiently, and knowing that sometimes slowing down gets you there sooner.

I’ve written on this topic a number of times. Take a read for further insights: